Easel



(No Model.)

H'. A. SIMSROTT.

v EASEL.

No. 360,737. PatentedApr.5, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. SIMSROTT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

eAsEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 360,737, dated April 5, 1887.

Application filed February 5, 1887. Serial No. 226,028. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY A. Snusno'rr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ghicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Easels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in easel attachments adapted to provide rests or shelves whereon pictures or the like may be supported, so as to stand against the fronts of the easels to which such attachments are applied. Various expedients have been employed for varying the height of such rests or shelves-as, for example, an easel, having its front comprising parallel upright side bars connected together by cross-pieces, has been combined with a horizontal shelf-board rendered adjustable in height by means of a couple of shelf -supporting brackets permanently fixed to the shelf-board and provided with pins arranged to enter holes formed in the rear sides of the upright parallel side bars, the brackets being secured in fixed positions to the shelf-board, from which they extend first rearwardly and upwardly between the upright parallel side bars of the easel front, and then laterally, so as to bring the pins upon their upper laterally-bent ends in position to enter the holes in the rear sides of the upright par allel side bars of the easel front.

The more prominent objects of my invention are to provide an easel attachment consisting of an object rest or support which can be applied with like facility to and adjusted vertically with like readiness upon easels wherein the front standards or side bars of the front portion of the easel either converge upwardly or downwardly, whereby, without change or modification in the construction of the attachment, it may be shifted in height along the front of an easel having either an upwardly or downwardly converging front frame portion, and hence place the attachment at such height as the object to be supported may require.

A further object is to dispense with a shelf extending horizontally across the front of an easel, since, while a shelf may be made to correspond in length to the uniform horizontal width of an easelframe comprising a pair of parallel upright bars, such shelf, if adapted to the greatest width of an easel-frame comprising a pair of converging bars, would, if adjusted in height by any means whatsoever to the narrower portion of the frame, necessarily project beyond such side bars to an un necessary and undesirable extent. Thus,in case it should be desired to supportasmall picture at a point comparatively high up on an easel having its front composed of upwardly-converging side bars, the length of shelf would be disproportionate to the width of both the picture and the easel at such point, in case the shelf were also adapted to the increased width of the easel at a point lower down.

Further objects are to provide an e'fiicient and generally desirable easel attachment susceptible of attaining all of the results hereinbefore ascribed to my said improvement and possessing features of form serving to render it in harmony with the particular design and use of an easel.

To the attainment of the foregoing and other useful ends my invention consists in matters hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention I provide an easel attachment or object-rest consisting of a pair of arms made separately from one another and adj ustably secured upon a connecting-rod common to both arms, whereby said arms may be shifted in position along the rod in order to vary their distance apart with reference to the width of the easel. These two arms conjointly furnish a direct supporting medium for the picture, drawing-board, or other like object that is to be placed upon the easel; and hence, in order to prevent an object which 1s arranged to rest upon the arms andlie against the front of the easel from slipping forwardly and off from the arms, the latter, which are attached at their inner ends to the easel, are at their outer endssuitably turned up. The arms of said attachment or object-rest are detachably or adjustably applied to the upright side bars of the easel-front, in order that they can be set at any desired height upon the easel, it being observed that where such bars converge either upwardly or downwardly the arms can be shifted and looked upon the connectingrod at a distance apart corresponding to the distance at which the easel-bars are apart at the l particular point of attachment of the arms thereto.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents in per spective an easel with my improved attachment or objectrest applied thereto, said figure representing in full lines the object-rest at a point somewhat low down upon the easel and further illustrating in dotted lines the objectrest set somewhathigher up. Fig. 2 is a detail on a slightly larger scale, and represents in elevation one of the arms applied to one of the front side bars or uprights of the easel, a portion only of said bar or upright being shown. In this view the connecting-rod is represented in cross-section, and a part of the bar is also shown. in section in order 'to illustrate one of. the ways in which the arm can be attached to the easel bar or upright. Fig. 3 represents a portion of the connecting-roddetached, and serves to illustrate the longitudinal groove or channel in said rod. Fig. 4 is a detail illustrating another way in which the arm can be attached to the easel bar or upright.

The easel A may beof a great variety of forms or patterns. As herein shown, its front comprises a pair of upright side bars or uprights, a, which are connected together and. usually maintained by the rear hinged stay or prop, a, in a somewhat inclined position when the easel is open. The two front bars, a, in this instance converge upwardly, but may, if desired, converge downwardly, as in that class of easels where the front is composed of two downwardly-converging bars, with or without additional upright outer side bars, between which the converging barsmay be disposed whensuch outer side bars are employed.

The two arms B,which conj ointly constitute the object-support, are adapted at one end for attachment to the easel, and formed so that when attached they shall project forwardly from the plane of the front of the easel,in order that, while the arms may afford a direct rest or support for the picture or other object, the front of the easel shall form the usual back for the object to lie against. To hold the lower portion of the object up to the easel and to prevent any forward slip of the sa1ne,the arms are turned upwardly at their forward ends, as at I), said turned-up ends of the arms serving as desirable-stops or abutments. These two arms are fitted to slide along arod, O,whereon they can be temporarily held at any desired points along the length of the rod by any suitable means-sueh, for example, as set-screws D,applied to the'arms and arranged to engage the rod which passes through the two arms.

By such means the arms can be set at variable distances apart, according to the width of the easel at the point where the arms are to be secured thereto. Thus in Fig. l the arms are applied to the easel-bars a at a point somewhat low down upon the easel, and hence the arms are set and held apart at a distance corresponding ,to the distance between the two easel-bars at such point. If, however, it be desired to place the object-rest higher up-for instance, up to the position indicated in dotted lines in said figurethe arms can be set and held closer together, in correspondence with the decreased width at which the easel-bars are apart at such point in the easel.

The arms are herein shown as arranged within the front frame of the easel, each arm standing alongside the inner edge of one of the easel-bars a; but where the side bars are rather broad and it is desired to support a picture of extra width, the arms can be arranged outside *the easel-framethat is to say, each arm can be placed along the outer edge of one of the easel bars'or uprights. This transfer can be made without changing the structure of the arm, it being only necessary to cause the arms shown in Fig. 1 to change places with one another, which change can be made by sllpplng one arm off from the rod and then placing it on the rod from the opposite end thereof.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the rear ends of the arms are turned up and each provided with alug, I), having a stud or pin, bZwhich is to be fitted into any one of a series of holes or sockets, a",with which the front bars, a, of the easel are provided along their rear sides. Under such arrangement the arms, which de pend from their points of attachment to the easel, are kept in a forwardly-distended position by the rod, which, while connecting the arms together, rests across the front of the easel.

In place, however, of the lug and stud attachment,which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2,and which is an old expedient as a hinge-connection in numerous other instances, I can provide each arm with the flat lug or plate I), as in Fig. 4, adapted to rest against the rear side of the easel-bar and enlarge the arm at the point of juncture with such lug, so as to provide a block or bearing, b for a spring-controlled catch-pin, E. In such case the holes or sockets will be formed along the inner or outer side edges of the easel-uprights a, so that when an arm is applied the lug will lie against the rear side of the easel-bar, while the block or bearing will stand opposite the edge of the bar, and thereby bring the catch-pin in register with one of the sockets or holes destined for its reception.

In order to more effectually prevent the arms from accidentally turning upon the rod, and particularly to keep them in alignment with one another, orin their trueposition rela tive to each other, when it becomes necessary to loosen the set-screws, preparatory to and during the operation of shifting the arms upon the rod, the latter is provided with a longitudinal groove or channel, 0, in which the inner ends of the set-screws are received. In this way the set'screws, when tightened up, can be caused to bind against the bottom of such groove, and when loosened up can still be left in engagement therein.

It will be observed that the rod can be made IIO small and light, and that by the present arrangement of set or binding screws the groove in the rod will be below and out of sight. The feature of the rod extending beyond the sides of the easel is rather an addition to than a detraction from the general appearance of the easel; and, since the rod can be either made of a brass or other bright metal tube or of some gilded or other desirably-finished material, its presence will constitute an ornamental as well as a useful adjunct.

Of course the arms could be applied equally as well to an easel having its front consisting of or comprisinga rectangular frame; but, since the tapered form of front frame is most in demand, my improved obj cot-rest will more generally be used upon easels of the last-mentioned type.

What I claim as my invention is 1. An object-rest for easels, consisting of a pair of arms adapted for connection with an easel at different points in the height of the latter, and combined with a rod to which the said arms are adj ustably secured by a sliding connection whereby they can be set and held upon the rod at distances apart varying to the width of the easel at such point as they may be applied thereto, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The c0mbinati0n,with the arms B, adapted for application to an easel, substantially as set forth, of the longitudinally-grooved rod whereon said arms are held in place by setscrews arranged to engagein the groove of the rod, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with an easel, of the arms B, applied thereto, substantially as set forth, the rod G, passing through said arms and extending across the front of the easel,and devices, substantially as set forth, for temporarily locking the arms upon the rod at any desired distance apart, substantially as described.

HENRY A. SIMSRO'IT.

\Vitnesses:

Guns. G. PAGE, L. S. LOGAN. 

